Cot supported tent supporting frame

ABSTRACT

A TUBULAR METAL TENT FRAME CAPABLE OF BEING READILY ATTACHED TO AND SUPPORTED BY THE TUBULAR METAL FRAME OF A CONVENTIONAL COT FOR SUPPORTING A TENT OR CANOPY OVER THE COT FOR PROTECTING THE OCCUPANT FROM THE ELEMENTS AND FROM INSECTS WHILE SLEEPING OUTDOORS. THE TENT FRAME IS FORMED OF PIVOTALLY CONNECTED SECTIONS TO ENABLE IT TO BE COMPACTLY FOLDED FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORTATION WITH THE TENT, WHEN DETACHED FROM THE COT, OR FOR OPENING ONE   END OF THE TENT TO AFFORD INGRESS AND EGRESS TO OR FROM, RESPECTIVELY, THE TENT ENCLOSED COT.

June 15, 1971 R. A. MODOUGALL COT SUPPORTED TENT SUPPORTING FRAME 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 12, 1969 INVENTOR ROLAND AMQDOUGALL BY 2&5 M.

FIG.9

ATTORNEY E M A R F W u L R m P w. T 0 N E M T D E M R O P P U s T O 0June 15, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 12, 1969 INVENTOR ROLAND A.McDOUGALL ATTORNEY United States Patent 01 C6 3,584,322 COT SUPPORTEDTENT SUPPORTING FRAME Roland A. McDougall, 704 Hall St., Charleston, W.Va. 25302 Filed Aug. 12, 1969, Ser. No. 849,352 Int. Cl. A47c 29/00 U.S.Cl. 5113 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tubular metal tent framecapable of being readily attached to and supported by the tubular metalframe of a conventional cot for supporting a tent or canopy over the cotfor protecting the occupant from the elements and from insects whilesleeping outdoors. The tent frame is formed of pivotally connectedsections to enable it to be compactly folded for storage ortransportation with the tent, when detached from the cot, or for openingone end of the tent to afford ingress and egress to or from,respectively, the tent enclosed cot.

SUMMARY It is a primary object of the present invention to provide alightweight yet strong metal frame of extremely simple constructionwhich may be composed primarily of lightweight metal tubing and whichmay be quickly attached to or detached from a conventional cot forsupporting an enclosure such as a tent or canopy over the cot.

Another object of the invention is to provide a frame having novel meansby which it may be anchored to the cot by the user while in a positionon the cot and within the tent, and which anchoring means may bereleased from within the tent for opening an end thereof to provideegress for the occupant and to subsequently afford access to the cot andtent.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tent supporting framewherein the means anchoring the frame to the cot additionally completesthe erection of the tent over the frame and cot.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a frame which may bequickly detached from the cot and folded with the tent or canopyenclosure into a small compact unit capable of being conveniently storedor transported.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view,partly broken away, showing the frame attached to and supported on a cotand with the enclosure or tent supported thereby over and around thecot;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view thereof with the tent or enclosurepartly broken away to illustrate details of the frame;

Patented June 15., 1971 FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinalsectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by theline 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view, partly invertical section, of a portion of the tent supporting frame and aportion of the cot frame;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken substantially along a planeas indicated by the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view, taken substantially along aplane as indicated by the line 66 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view takensubstantially along a plane as indicated by the line 77 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of a portion ofthe tent supporting frame, and

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view showing the main body of the tentsupporting frame folded and with the tent or enclosure omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring rnore specifically tothe drawings, the tent supporting frame in its entirety and comprisingthe invention is designated generally 10 and includes an uprightarch-shaped member 11 to the lower ends of the depending legs 12 ofwhich are secured joint members 13 which project from opposite sides ofsaid legs 12, as seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. The frame 10 also includescorresponding U-shaped end member 14 and 15, the terminals of theparallel sides 16 of which are connected to the joints 13 by pivotfastenings 17 on opposite sides of the arch member 11, for swingingmovement of said end members 14 and 15 between extended substantiallycoplanar positions as illustrated in FIG. 1, at right angles to the arch11, and folded positions, as seen in FIG. 9, substantially parallel tothe arch member 11.

The frame 10 includes corresponding arch-shaped props 18 and 19 havingdepending leg 20 to the terminals of which are rigidly secured angularjoint members 21. The joint members 21 of the prop 18 are pivotallyconnected by fastenings 22 t0 the legs 16 of the member 14 and thejoints 21 of the prop 19 are similarly connected by fastenings 22 to thelegs 16 of the member 15. The fastenings 22 are located nearer thetransverse end portions 23 of the members 14 and 15 than the pivots 17,as clearly illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 9. A rigid inwardly opening hook24 is immovably secured to and extends downwardly from each joint 21,for a purpose which will hereinafter be described.

The parts previously described and illustrated in FIG. 9 constitute themain unit of the frame 10, the members 11, 14, 15, 18 and 19 of whichare preferably of tubular construction, as illustrated.

The tent supporting frame 10 also includes a pair of correspondingsupporting units 25, as best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, each of whichincludes an elongated bar 26 of arcuate cross section having an uprightpin or post 27 extending upwardly from the upper convex side thereof andintermediate of its ends. Each unit 25 also includes two split ringclamps 28, the terminals of each of which are connected by a wing nutand bolt fastening 29, as seen in FIG. 6.

7 The frame 10 is adapted to be mounted on a substantially conventionalcot having a tubular metal frame 31 composed of two correspondingU-shaped tubular members 32, the inwardly extending ends of the legs 33of which are pivotally connected by fastenings 34 to joint members 35which are rigidly secured to the upright ends of a U-shaped center leg36, to permit folding of the frame members 32 relative to one another,as is conventional. The cot frame 31 also includes U-shaped end legs 37the terminals of the uprights of which are secured to joint members 38which are pivotally connected at 39 to the sides of the frame members32, remote from the pivots 34. As is conventional, the cot 30 includes aflexible fabric or plastic sheet 40 which is stretched between andsecured to the frame members 32.

With the cot open or extended, as seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the bars 26are positioned on the sides of the frame members 32 so as to span thejoints 35 and the ring clamps 28 are engaged thereover and around themembers 32, after which the fastenings 29 are tightened for clamping themembers 25 on the cot frame and with the pins or posts 27 extendingupwardly, in alignment with the upright terminals of the center leg 36,as seen in FIG. 4. The legs 12 of the arch member 11 are then moveddownwardly onto the posts 27 which engage in the lower portions thereof,as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, for mounting the arch 11 on the two units 25.The length of the frame 10, as measured between the end portions 23, andthe width of said frame, as measured between the side members 16, isequal to the length and width, respectively, of the cot frame 31, sothat when the end members 14 and 15 are swung downwardly to their fullline positions of FIG. 3, said members will be disposed directly overthe ends and sides of the cot frame.

A tent or enclosure 41 which may be formed of any suitable flexible andWaterproof material is supported by the frame 10 and includes a roof 42which slopes endwise downwardly from the intermediate portion thereofwhich rests upon the top intermediate portion 43 of the arch 11. Theends of the roof 41 rest upon the top intermediate portions 44 of theprops 18 and 19 which, in their extended full line positions of FIG. 3,extend upwardly and outwardly at an incline relative to one another fromthe joints 21, so that said portions 44 are disposed directly over theend portions 23. The side walls 45 and the end walls 46 of the tent 41extend downwardly to below the level of the cot frame 31, as seen inFIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Said walls 45 and 46 are each provided with internalcasings or sleeves 4-7, as best seen in FIG. 7, formed by rows ofstitching 48, which sleeves 47 are formed around the sides 16 and ends23 of the end members 14 and 15 for securing the tent or enclosure 41 tothe frame 10.

One or both side walls 45 and end walls 46 are provided with windows 49which may include a transparent plastic sheet 50 covering an opening 51in the tent wall; or a sheet of mesh fabric may be utilized in lieu ofthe plastic sheet. A flap 52, of the same material as the tent 41, issecured by stitching 53' to the inner side of the tent above each window49 so that it can be lowered to a position as illustrated in FIG. 3 forcovering the window opening.

As seen in FIGS, 1 and 3, when the props 18 and 19 are swung outwardlyand away from the arch 11 toward their positions of FIG. 1 and theirfull line positions of FIG. 3, the hooks 24 thereof will engage pins 53,which project outwardly from the sides of the cot frame 31, as saidprops 18 and 19 reach their upwardly and outwardly inclined extendedpositions, to latch the frame 10' on the cot frame and to prevent theprops from swinging outwardly and downwardly beyond said extendedpositions. The pins 53 constitute the only modification of the otherwiseconventional cot 30.

The frame 10 also includes two rigid tubular braces 54 havingenlargements or heads 55 at the ends thereof.

Each head 55 has an outwardly opening substantially semicircular notch56. The notches 56 at the adjacent ends of the two braces 54 engage thetop portion 43 of the arch 11 and the notches 56 at the remote ends ofthe braces 54 engage the top portions 44 of the props 18 and 19 to holdsaid props in their extended positions and to retain the hooks 24 inengagement with the pins 53.

As will be readily apparent, the user must assume a position on the cot30 and within the tent 41 in order to extend the frame 10 and latch itto the cot 30. Egress from the cot and tent is accomplished by firstremoving one of the braces 54, as, for example, the right hand brace asseen in FIG. 3, so that the prop 118 can then be swung upwardly andinwardly to disengage the books 24 thereof from two of the pins 53, sothat the end member 14 and the portion of the tent attached thereto canbe swung upwardly to the dotted line positions of said parts 14 and 18.Obviously, the parts 14 and 18 will be moved to their dotted linepositions of FIG. 3 to afford access to the cot and tent.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resortedto, without departing from the function or scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cot supported tent supporting assembly comprising, a cot frame, atent supporting frame having an upright arch member, a pair of U-shapedend members, means swingably connecting said end members to thedepending ends of said arch member for swinging movement between foldedsubstantially parallel positions and extended substantially coplanarpositions, said end members being adapted to be disposed directly overthe cot frame in said extended positions thereof, means attached to thesides of the cot frame and engaging the depending ends of the archmember for detachably mounting the tent frame on the cot frame, a pairof arch-shaped props having substantially parallel legs, means pivotallyconnecting the terminals of said legs to the sides of said end members,remote from said arch member, for swinging movement between foldedpositions extending inwardly from the pivots thereof and lyingsubstantially parallel to said end members and extended positionsprojecting upwardly and outwardly at inclines from the extended endmembers, and a tent disposed over the extended tent frame having a roofresting on and supported by the intermediate portions of said archmember and said props, said tent having side and end walls extendingdownwardly around and to beneath the cot frame.

2. A tent frame as in claim 1, said inte'mediate portions 4 of the propsbeing disposed below the level of the intermediate portion of the archmember for supporting the tent with the roof thereof sloping downwardlyfrom its intermediate portion toward each of its ends.

3. A tent frame as in claim 1, and means adapted to latch the props tothe cot frame in the extended upwardly and outwardly inclined positionsof the props.

4. A tent frame as in claim 3, said last mentioned means limiting theextent of the movement of the props outwardly and away from the archmember.

5. A tent frame as in claim 3, and rigid braces detachably mountedbetween and engaging the intermediate portions of the arch member andprops for holding the props against swinging movement inwardly of oneanother and for retaining the props latched to the cot frame forretaining the tent supporting frame immovably positioned on the cotframe.

6. A tent frame as in claim 1, and means attaching the side and endwalls of the tent to said end members for retaining the tent extendedover the tent supporting frame when said frame is in an extendedposition on the cot.

7. A tent supporting frame as in claim 1, and means adapted to latchsaid props to the cot frame, said last mentioned means of either of saidprops being releasable to permit one of said end members to be swungupwardly with an end of the tent attached thereto for ingress and egressto and from the cot and tent.

8. A tent supporting frame as in claim 1, said means adapted to attachthe tent supporting frame to the cot comprising bars adapted to rest onthe sides of the cot frame, clamps securing said bars immovably to thecot frame, and posts extending upwardly from said bars and engaging inthe depending legs of said arch member.

9. A tent supporting frame as in claim 1, said arch 10 member, endmembers and props being formed of substantially rigid tubular material.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,673,626 6/1928 Johnson 5-1132,159,309 5/1939 Betourne 135-4 3,206,773 9/ 1965 Sarasin 5-99 BOBBY R.GAY, Primary Examiner DARRELL F. MARQUETTE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl.X.R. 5114; 135-4

